I'm making a character with the concept of being a Field-Medic Mystic Adept with Turn to Goo. It says that cyberware is unaffected by it. Is it possible to remove cyberware by turning your target to goo?

Yes. The only problem is that the transformed goo is as hard as the body-value plus net hits, making this kind of surgery practically impossible, unless you have a chainsaw to hack out the cyberware. This spell is completely useless, as the "goo" is incredibly hard and dense (even more, the mightier the magician is). It would be far easier to not use this spell at all.

Oh, it's not entirely useless. You can use it to defuse a hostage situation by turning the human shield to goo, then spinning up a minigun.

Personally, I disallow Turn To Goo. It's just such a retarded spell.

why the shield when one can do it to the criminal?

still, the solution has a very robocop like quality to it

Good luck trying to bring the minigun through the superdense goo.

Nah, that spell is useless and retarded in every way imaginable. There is no gain whatsoever for anybody. The spell doesn't help in combat, neither medicinally, nor even for concealing anything. Makes you wonder what the developers were smoking at that time when they (re-)introduced that spell in SR 4.

maybe it was an attempt at a peace offering to the old hats over the change of rules system?

Laes cigarettes.

heh, would probably have worked better, yes...

Well, metahuman smuggling rings would most likely use it.

A F3 sustaining foci would be able to handle your average metahuman and it can be used indefinitely.

Stacking people into a container with said focis would be easy as filling a plate with pancakes. You can also skip any kind of food and nourishment or any kind of waste disposal system.

Just press them into a container or smuggling compartment - you can probably suck them up into tanks too.

Messy result though if the F3 spells hit an area with a mana sink and all those people go back to their original form inside a far to small canister...

*squish*

I can also see the use of an area effect turn to goo as a crowd control measure. Say that half get turned into gooey sticky stuff and the others gets caught into them.

the mental images...

It seems like they took the name of the spell from the first edition without realizing it's intention. My take on that spell was that it was really there as a show piece. Magic in RPGs when Shadowrun came out was always very gothic and old-timey. You needed components and gestures to pull off some great looking flaming arrow in other systems. Shadowrun - the victim just melts, the mundanes don't see anything else.

Personally I like the magic users for their non-combat spells. You can save your group with lots of low powered spells. Fashion was always a fave for me, as was fresh face.

From gonig through my husband and Snow Fox's books I think the 1st Ed trun to goo pretty much melted the target. They tell stories of trying to hide the "goo." Then 2nd ed did not have it but did have "acid wave" a fav's of SF's. Then they have tried to bring the details back and make everyone happy.

While Turn to Goo has applications in people shipping and combat defusal, why not just Petrify them?

Because then you wont get blank stares from all the 1e people at the table who are thinking I can't believe they brought that back

Well, then you have to move statues around.

Goo is more stackable and can be shaped to your liking.

Petrify & Turn To Goo should also be very, VERY usable within DocWagon and paramedic services.

Victim is dying - Petrify/Turn To Goo
Victim has smashed spine - Petrify/Turn To Goo
Victim is trapped within a wreck and must be cut out - Turn To Goo

Personally, my combat mages usually stick to sadistic uses of the glue spell for unorthodox combat resolution. Although one time in 3e a combat mage of mine petrified an entire sec squad at once. First round of combat. Totally wicked, though it almost killed him.

I assume the target of the spell is unable to take any action while turned to goo. That can be useful IMO.

No, it can't, because every other spell is better than it, either due to lower drain value, better effects, or even both things combined.

It's a dumb spell without any use, and you have to maintain concentration, giving you a -2 dice pool penalty.

No, *you* think it's a dumb spell without any use. People have already pointed out uses. You failing to see them is not an issue with the spell.

Ridicoulus uses like needing some kind of focus for smuggling people (while being in danger of killing the transformed and leaving more messes than normally), trying to turn a hostage into goo (making it actually a better protection for the kidnapper), or whatever other useless application one wants to try with that spell. Thank you so very much for opening my eyes towards this wonderful spell.

I'd call those excessively creative. Though the kidnapper would completely lose his cover, as the goo would just fall into this amorphous puddle. You can hardly call that cover.

As for some non-ridiculous options, how about these?
-- What about needing to smuggle a paracritter past border security? Or even a small child that no one is supposed to know is still alive?
-- Needing to get someone into a vault, but no metahumans allowed that aren't repeatedly verified. Anchor the spell into a warded container and have that stored in the vault. Anchor gives out after X time or after a certain event, then poof, instant inside man.
-- Alternative to the above is delivering a package to a shipping warehouse and stop sustaining a spell after you know the guy is inside.

The point is, every single spell can be useful. You simply have to choose its application. I didn't say or even suggest that this was the greatest spell ever, but it's not worthless either. If you feel different, fine, that's your opinion. Others don't have to share it.

Well my problem with Turn to Goo is that according to RAW every Magical Theorist in the world should be ODing on longhaul trying to figure out what makes this spell so special that it is able to break the known laws of Magical Theory and ignore the fact that implants paid for with Essence become part of the target's Pattern and can not be targeted seperately.

If I can't powerball that slag's cybereye then Turn to Goo can't target everthing except the cybereye.

A very good point.

I would rather rule that both Petrify and Turn to Goo both work in the same way but slightly different effect.

Sure, one makes the target more solid, the other, less solid. Same effect, different direction.

Yup, and cyberware becomes one with the new form so one cannot destroy the body and take out the cyberware.